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Overview

Ten thousand people jam the aisles, the corridors, the elevators, and the escalators of America, the Mall — a giant Rubik’s Cube of a structure with its own amusement park located in the spacious center atrium. Of those people, nine thousand nine hundred and eighty-eight have come to shop.

The other twelve have come to kill.

Ray Cruz, one of the heroes of Hunter’s last bestseller, Dead Zero, is in the mall with his fiancée and her family. The retired Marine sniper thought he was done with stalking and killing—but among the trapped thousands, he’s the only one with a plan and the guts to confront the self-proclaimed “Brigade Mumbai.” Now all he needs is a gun.

FBI Sniper Dave McElroy has a gun. But positioned on the roof of the vast building and without explosives or fuses — or the go-ahead from his superiors — he is cut off from his targets and forced into the role of witness to the horror unfolding below.

Having learned the lessons of Columbine, the feds believe that immediate action is the only solution. But Douglas Obobo, the charismatic and ambitious commandant of the state police, orders cooperation, tolerance, communication, and empathy for the gunmen. He feels that with his superior negotiating skills, he can make contact with the shooters and gently nudge them into surrender. But what if their goal all along has been unparalleled massacre — and they’re only waiting for prime time?

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Former Marine sniper Ray Cruz, the 42-year-old half-Asian son of Bob Lee Swagger, who was introduced in 2010’s Dead Zero, plays a central role in Hunter’s fast-paced thriller. The Friday after Thanksgiving, terrorists begin their attack on America, the Mall, a huge shopping complex outside Minneapolis, by shooting dead the man playing Santa Claus. The terrorists manage to lock down the mall using sophisticated technology and drive more than 1,000 frenzied shoppers into a central holding area. Among those trapped on upper levels are Cruz and Lavelva Oates, a child care worker. Douglas Obobo, the head of the Minnesota State Police, who was born the “son of a Kenyan graduate student at Harvard and a Radcliffe anthropology major,” wants to avoid violence, while Mike Jefferson, the “rogue state police commander” who leads the SWAT team, pushes an aggressive assault plan. As this straightforward adventure tale builds to its fearsome climax, it’s the actions of Cruz and Oates to thwart the terrorists that captivate. (Dec.)
Kirkus Reviews
In Hunter's latest, someone shoots Santa Claus and suddenly 1,000 holiday shoppers are converted into hostages. In Bloomington, Minn., Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving which, for retailers, is both a blessing and a curse, is on the cusp of becoming blood-soaked Friday. With a 4-year-old sitting in his lap, Santa has taken a sniper's bullet and gone to meet his maker. Instantly, America, the Mall, that huge and opulent shoppers' Mecca, turns chaotic. Terrified people race not for bargains but for exits, desperate to escape a follow-up fusillade. Many are fortunate enough to break free. About 1,000, however--mostly women and children--are herded into a central area by gunmen calling themselves the Brigade Mumbai. Heavily armed and avowedly vengeful--the death of Osama besmirches jihadists everywhere--they are as eager for martyrdom as they are for murder. Among the shoppers, albeit reluctantly, is Ray Cruz, a retired marine sniper, son of the iconic marine sniper Bob Lee Swagger, whose valorous exploits Hunter has richly detailed (Dead Zero, 2010, etc.). Sweet-talked by his brand new fiancée, Ray has ventured into mall world as tentatively as if it were an Afghan minefield. But now, circumstances having altered drastically, he's back in his element, undercover and looking for targets. Brigade Mumbai puts forward its demands. The situation intensifies, approaches the tipping point. By this time it's clearly understood by the authorities that they're dealing with a suicide mission and the potential for a horrific massacre. Snipers and SWAT teams gather, but only one man is in an advantageous tactical position, behind enemy lines, as it were. Only one man, but he's Bob Lee Swagger's son, and what a good thing it is that the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. A too-abundant cast dilutes the protagonist's presence, but the action scenes are well done as usual and the premise chills.

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781439138700
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster
  • Publication date: 12/6/2011
  • Pages: 272
  • Sales rank: 16,107
  • Product dimensions: 9.58 (w) x 6.38 (h) x 1.03 (d)

Meet the Author

Stephen Hunter
Stephen Hunter

Stephen Hunter has written seventeen novels. The retired chief film critic for The Washington Post, where he won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Distinguished Criticism, he has also published two collections of film criticism and a nonfiction work, American Gunfight. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3.5
( 49 )

Rating Distribution

5 Star

(14)

4 Star

(14)

3 Star

(12)

2 Star

(5)

1 Star

(4)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 49 Customer Reviews
  • Posted January 12, 2012

    Recommended--recreational read

    Extreme characters (on both sides of the law) that are meant to stir your emotions in an over the top plot that tests the readers patience in this predictable yarn. Saying that first, it is a fun , escapist read in seeing how the author will resolve what he set up to be an unresolvable situation. He semi-succeeds but in an unsatisying and unsatisfactory way. I hope he soes not plan to bring some of the these flawed characters back.

    3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 26, 2012

    Sophomoric, not believable - find something else

    The plot for "Soft Target" provided the author with an opportunity to develop a nice story, but instead it turned out to be predictable, sophomoric and snarky while throughout, not believable. Without giving away the story, all the access doors to the mall are locked and the police are stymied as to how to gain entrance because of this. Has the author ever driven by a mall to see all the glass doors in the anchor stores that available for breaking in? Just an example of how the story never gets you pulled in. As another reviewer mentioned ("Rolling on the Floor"), the thinly veiled comparison of the head of the State Police (Col. Obobo) to someone of a similar name and heritage who lives on Pennsylvania Ave. is sophomoric and silly ...and snarky. Tom Clancy seems to have fallen into this political trap as well with his recent "Locked Down". None of the characters, with the exception of "Our Hero" have two neurons in their brain to rub together, and if they do, they are too self-absorbed to help the poor people in the mall. At only 256 pages, it's a mercifully quick read, but you can do better if you're looking for suspenseful mind candy.

    2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 11, 2011

    Too Short

    I got into Stephen Hunter through Bob Lee Swagger. This book was too short and had a couple of boring spots in it. I do believe that he could adapt Cruz as another Bob Lee.

    2 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted December 10, 2011

    Rolling on the Floor Laughing

    Mr Hunter, it would seem, wears his politics on his sleeve. The incompetent chief of the Minnesota State Police is a Kenyan, Mr. Obobo who is a graduate of Harvard and Harvard Law. Obobo drifts through one top assignment after another. He and his loyal sidekick decide that this crisis is too good to waste and accuse Minnesotans of clinging to their guns, bibles, and resistant to change. What a hoot! I'll finish the review when I finish the book. Obobo!!! Gotta love it!

    1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted October 18, 2011

    C'mon Stephen; get that computer humming.

    Not really a review as book is not yet out. But I have had to start reading Stephens books a second time waiting for this new one to come out.

    1 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 20, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    America, the Mall, an enormous mall on the outskirts of Minneapo

    America, the Mall, an enormous mall on the outskirts of Minneapolis is abuzz with excitement. It is Black Friday and the huge mall is jam-packed with shoppers trying to get the latest deal. The amusement park rides are running and a little girl is sitting on Santa's lap, telling the jolly man what she wants for Christmas. All is well until somebody shoots and kills Santa while the little girl talks. Chaos breaks out as a terrorist group, the "Mumbai Brigade," herds all the panicked shoppers into the center of the mall where they plan to kill helpless shoppers and get their message out to the world.

    Ray Cruz, who many readers will have met from Hunter's previous book, Dead Zero, is in the mall shopping with Molly, his fiancée when the terrorists strike. A retired Marine sniper, he may be the only hope for the 1,000 shoppers being held hostage. After seeing to the safety of Molly and some other shoppers who he hides in the back of a store, Ray goes to work.

    This rapid pace thriller takes place all in one day, in fact, within seven hours it's all over. There isn't much time for Ray, or the reader, to take a breath as there is something happening on every page. The action shifts between Ray, the terrorists, a news crew, other snipers, as well as the police. Add in a bit of cyber warfare, and a storeowner with an agenda, and you'll be eager to find out if there's more to the terror attack than a group of teenage boys with guns. Without a doubt, the sections featuring Ray are the standouts and while his fiancée fades to the background, keep an eye out for Lavela Oates. Ms. Oates was doing her best to get through her first day of work at a day care center in the mall and she's not about to lose her job over some crazed jihadists. While some may find the Somali terrorists a bit too predictable in their insane plans, others will see this as a great action thriller and a story line that could well happen one day.

    Quill says: Those who like their thrillers to start fast and never let up, won't be disappointed with Soft Target.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 29, 2012

    Good read

    I dont see why every one is hating on this book there are a few things that get dragged on but it might have been better for me since i live in minnisota an go to the mall a lot i was able to relate to much of it very good

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 16, 2012

    Ally

    Hey

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 7, 2012

    May

    Brings in products

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 24, 2012

    Very bad

    Worst book I ever picked up. What a waste, very boring, I skipped entire uninteresting worthless chapters of information about nothing.
    DO NOT WASTE YOUR TIME OR MONEY. If I could get a refund I would. Thumbs down minus 5 stars

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  • Posted March 10, 2012

    Not Recommended for Bob Lee Fans.

    Been a Swagger fan for a long time, which is why I bought this book. But Bob Lee's not in it. Ray Cruz is a poor stand-in. Since I started this book, and I'm not even finished yet, I've been feeling like I read this story before. Terrorists in a mall, and a lone "hero" to work it out. I can't, for the life of me, remember where it was, but I KNOW I've read it.

    I spend much of the time reading this book skipping whole paragraphs, or even pages, because of TEDIOUS descriptions of people's actions. Characterizations make no sense, really, as you have: a State Police commander who seems to be a pacifist (Obobo? Really?); a female store clerk (Lavelva?! What kinda name is that!??!) who's secretly a ninja; a gym-toughened Marine who can't beat a Somali in hand-to-hand combat without the secret-ninja's help; a SWAT sniper who can't hit what he's aiming at...and this is all without having finished the book yet.

    Why do I keep reading? Maybe I hope it'll get better, though I can't see that happening. Maybe I'll remember what the OTHER book was that was so similar to this. I'd hate to think Mr. Hunter actually released this book several years ago, and just decided to re-write and re-release it after "Dead Zero", where we meet Ray Cruz.

    If you haven't bought it yet...don't.

    Just one man's opinion.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted February 16, 2012

    Soft target

    Gt

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  • Posted February 8, 2012

    Just Awful

    This is beyond terrible. I wish I could put negative stars. I LOVE the Earl Swagger books and REALLY REALLY LIKE the Bob Lee Swagger books but this is contrived, boring and terrible. Bought it as an audio book, listened to 1/2 and stopped. Please go back to what works. This is painfully bad

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  • Posted January 18, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    Soft Thriller

    The author has shown that he can write a thriller, but this one did not have the edge that I expected from reading his previous works. The shopping mall may have been used as something that readers could relate to, but I didn't. The young bad guy has powers well beyond what a spoiled rich kid was likely to accrue, and I just couldn't see a real Iman buying into him.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  No   Report this review
  • Anonymous

    Posted December 14, 2011

    WHY .. ?????????

    I was looking so forward seeing odopo get what he deserved instead hes now head of the FBI very disappointed a good story til the end why do liberals come out ahead even in fiction.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 10, 2011

    To short

    I expected it to be a longer lasting suspense. It had some boring spots in it, but I believe that Cruz could be up there with Bob Lee.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 9, 2011

    Good

    This the first book that i have read by this author and i really enjoyed it even though i usually dont read this type i would recommend this book to anyone who likes non stop action because it has it from beging to end the only problem i had with this book was all the jumping around it did but it was still a good book

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 6, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 15, 2012

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted December 26, 2011

    No text was provided for this review.

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